Follow me on Twitter @pool88.
UPDATE 11:30 AM The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed Daniel and Henrik Sedin
More big news on a big Canucks media day. Daniel and Henrik Sedin have signed four-year contract extensions, which will take them through 2017-18.
News1130 is reporting the deals are for $7 million a year. Pretty reasonable!
#Canucks re-sign Henrick and Daniel Sedin to 4 year deals worth 28 million dollars each.
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) November 1, 2013
Bure's Big Moment
The Pavel Bure celebration gets underway in earnest on Friday at Rogers Arena.
The Russian Rocket will be meeting with the media this morning prior to the Canucks' practice, then will be doing a live webcast with Stan Smyl and Joey Kenward at 2 p.m. Here's the YouTube link for the webcast.
Vancouver's veteran hockey writers are doing a great job of bringing us some new perspectives augment our existing memories.
Jim Jamieson of The Province talked to Pavel's mentor and first centre, Igor Larionov, about Bure's early days and what might have been if they'd stayed together a little longer. Larionov will also be on hand on Saturday.
Tony Gallagher has interviews with Pat Quinn and Scotty Bowman, looking more closely at Bure's selection to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
And the Vancouver Sun's Brad Ziemer talked to current Canucks' assistant Mike Sullivan, who had the task of shadowing Bure for the Calgary Falmes in the first round of the 1994 playoffs. series.
Let's take a moment to remember just how that turned out:
I have no problem with the early start. I've learned from doing Stats that Hockey Night in Canada features a ceremony of some sort every Saturday. I think, in part, it's to delay the puck-drop so there's not too much time between the end of the early game and the start of the late one. The national ratings are much higher for the early broadcast. I think it's great that fans across the country—who might be tuning in to see the Leafs—will get a chance to watch the Canucks in prime time and see Vancouver honour one of its best.
Quick Hits:
- Two of the most important members of the Canucks are off to fantastic starts. Henrik Sedin has tied his career high with points in 10 straight games, had his best October ever with 18 points and leads the NHL with 15 assists. Meanwhile, Roberto Luongo went 7-4-1 with a 2.46 GAA and .909 save percentage in October. That's the same record he posted in his first season in Vancouver, 2006-07, the only time his personal stats for October were better than this year. By comparison, when the Canucks went to the finals in 2010-11, Luongo was 2.93 and .906, with a 2-3-2 record in seven starts.
- The Leafs are happy with their goaltending now, but the Toronto Sun's Mike Zeisberger couldn't resist this opportunity to talk with Luongo about what would have happened if he had been traded to Toronto. Here's his story.
- It'll be interesting to see if the Colorado Avalanche can stay on course after the allegations against Semyon Varlamov and their trade of Steve Downie. Patrick Roy is bound to have some sympathy for Varlamov since he went through a domestic-abuse crisis of his own in Denver back in 2000. In Roy's case, his wife refused to testify against him, the charges were eventually dropped, and the Avs went on to win the Stanley Cup the following spring. Varlamov's case looks more troublesome since his girlfriend has gone public with her accusations but there's a long way to go before anything is proven in court. Varlamov has been a key part of Colorado's early-season success, is staying with the team, and (UPDATED) is starting Friday in Dallas. "Why wait?" asked Roy.
- As far as the Steve Downie trade goes, there's no obvious connection between the two incidents, unless the Avs are simply trying to lower the volatility level around their club. Adrian Dater of the Denver Post has a thorough analysis of the trade from a Colorado point of view. He thinks Max Talbot will be a strong addition and postulates that Downie's character is a little too unhinged for Roy's liking—which is saying something. Among other things, Dater notes some tension between Downie and captain Gabe Landeskog that erupted during preseason. Click here for that story.
- Other player movement on Thursday saw former Canuck Manny Malhotra ink a one-year, two-way deal with the Carolina Hurricanes. Malhotra is expected to be in the lineup tonight when Carolina faces the Tampa Bay Lightning. I worry about Malhotra's safety on the ice due to the issues with his vision, but I'm happy to see him get another chance in the NHL and wish him all the best.
I'll be back tomorrow with our Canucks-Leafs game preview.